


Finding Five

by SerenStone



Series: Destiny 2 Prompts [17]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Katya-5 is Alive, We Stan Ghosts in this House
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:21:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22943971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerenStone/pseuds/SerenStone
Summary: Prompt: Brother asked for a "Ghost Story"
Series: Destiny 2 Prompts [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583290
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Finding Five

Astrophel was, perhaps, a bit of an odd duck among Ghosts. He had what some would call Too Many friends for a Ghost who had not yet found their Guardian. He disagreed of course; why must he be lonely just because he doesn’t have a Guardian? But he was aware that this reputation meant that certain more traditional elements did not find him acceptable. Apparently taking the time to stop and smell the roses when one could be scanning corpses for compatibility isn’t done. 

Not all Ghosts thought or behaved that way, he knew. There were several unpaired Ghosts working for the Speaker after all. But Astrophel was not useful in the right ways for that, nor was he willing to be tied down. Thus, Astrophel visited the Tower for specific purposes but otherwise spent the majority of his time traveling.

Oh, how Astrophel loved traveling! New sights and sounds and smells every day! He considered himself quite lucky that he was able to do something different every day and it didn’t bother him much if he didn’t find a body to scan for weeks at a time. While he looked forward to having a partner to work with and talk to he couldn’t say he looked forward to being constantly told what to do as most Guardian-Ghost pairs were treated by the Vanguard. 

There were exceptions, of course, his friend Shry being one on occasion. When she decided to study cryptarchy she was left alone by the Vanguard so she could complete her task. Astrophel spent a delightful four years with her and Arthil. Sometimes he helped with their work, sometimes he would spend hours out in the City so he could come back and recommend places for her to visit when she took breaks. 

Astrophel enjoyed lurking around the Vanguard sometimes, listening in on mission comms. Cayde-6 was always amusing in particular. Perhaps his Guardian would be a Hunter and they would work closely with Cayde! 

For all that Astrophel enjoyed being a solo act, he couldn’t help but wonder about what it would be like when his Guardian joined him. What would they be like? A good sense of humor, he hoped. A quick wit. Clever and cunning and able to keep up with him in conversation. Maybe a Warlock with an intelligence fit to rival Ikora Rey! Or a Titan as awe-inspiring as Saint-14! Astrophel would make for an excellent speech editor, he thought. 

One day Astrophel found himself examining ruins in what used to be a country called Sierra Leone. The area was riddled with military camps and he couldn’t help but wonder why. Nothing in the histories he was familiar with suggested that there was a need for this concentration of forces in the area. As he wandered through the camps, he found several EXOs in a ditch on the far edge. Each had a bullet hole in their forehead and a designation plate on their chest. Berko-3, Luus-2, Katya-4, Nkechi-6, Obi-9, Tais-5. Idly he ran a compatibility scan and felt the part of himself he called his soul still within him. 

_Compatible._

He scanned the individual again, taking in all the data he could. Katya-4, female frame, primarily gray color palette, visible sensory array enhancements. She also had substantially more physical damage than the others. Her left hand was entirely gone and both her feet were mangled beyond use. The scrapes and scratches on her knees and elbows indicated a strong possibility of crawling. There was a chunk of plating and wiring missing from her side. Scans showed there were deep lacerations in the plates of her back. And of course, the bullet hole in her forehead. 

Did she die fighting or suffering? It pained him to consider either option.

Astrophel hovered in silence above her for some time, considering. He enjoyed his life as it was, after all. Now that he knew where she was he could return any time. Perhaps he could consult with a few other Ghosts on their thoughts regarding pre-Guardian life and with Guardian life. 

But what if he took too long? She was compatible with the Light after all; he might not be the only Ghost that could pair with her. The idea that some other Ghost might raise her before he did made him suddenly horrifically angry. He wanted to know what her voice sounded like. He wanted to know what her first words would be. He wanted those things to be his.

The longer he stayed there, hovering over the tragic pile of corpses, the more the idea of leaving her became untenable. He could not bear to leave her in such a sorry state. It was disrespectful and deeply upsetting. 

Finally decided, he began freeing her from the bodies around her. His Guardian was not going to have to climb out of a mass grave like some sort of horrible metaphor for cycles of life and death. When she was finally situated out of the ditch he took a moment to settle himself. His life would never be what it had been ever again. That was worth a moment’s reflection.

Astrophel turned from the past toward the EXO and drew upon his essence, his origin, his soul, his Light and shaped it like a gift and a hope and offered it gently to the soul that yet lingered around the EXO. It took with an alacrity that surprised him and he watched, enthralled as her body became whole and the power system whirred back to life. He watched, silent as she blinked repeatedly and sat up.

“Hi,” he managed when she looked at him.

“Hey, uh. Do you know where we are?” Her voice was pitched low, and it had the quality of unsanded wood.

“Earth,” he said quickly. “I know things are weird right now, but everything is okay.” He was already calculating the shortest route to the closest salvageable ship he’d seen. 

“Cool. Cool. Next question: who am I?”

Astrophel stilled. “Your designation plate reads Katya-4.”

“So I would be… Katya-5?” One of her hands pulled the designation plate off to look at it.

“If that’s what you want.”

“Works for me,” she shrugged and tossed away the plate before getting to her feet and looking around. She walked toward one of the nearby tents and popped open a case sitting outside. With a pleased sound, she pulled out a very, very old auto rifle and some ammo. She disassembled the rifle in moments, examining each piece for flaws before reassembling it and checking that the firing and reloading mechanisms were functional. From the human corpses she grabbed a tactical vest and a belt with three knives hanging from it. Once she was satisfied, she turned back to Astrophel. “Now what?”

“I know the way to a ship,” he offered.

“Cool,” she said again. “I think I know how to fly.”

“My name is Astrophel,” he said as he led the way.

“Oh hey, that’s pretty.”

“Thank you,” he preened. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Hey, uh, Astrophel,” Katya-5 called while he was assessing the ship’s systems.

“Yes?”

“What’s my mission? I know I have one but I don’t remember.”

He turned to face her. “I’m afraid I don’t know what your old mission was. I only know what your options are for your new mission.”

A number of expressions filter across her face until she settles on one that would have been bared teeth on a human. “You mean I don’t have one right now?”

“Not exactly.”

She grinned. “Awesome. Do you have a mission?”

“My only mission is to be your partner,” he said carefully, hoping that he was understanding her usage of the word mission.

She went still. “Partner? Mission partner?”

“I don’t know what that means,” he admitted. “I’m supposed to make sure you have what you need and keep you on your feet.”

Her face cleared. “You’re in-field mission support!”

“Those words do essentially sum up what I do, if inelegantly,” he said, dubiously. 

Katya-5 favored him with her first laugh and he recorded it for posterity. “I remember one more thing,” she told him as she headed for the ship to pat its side. “I want to see the stars.”

Astrophel felt his soul swell with emotion. “Have I got good news for you.”


End file.
